A Second Triumphant Return: JGB, Halloween ’92

LN jg1992-10-31.jgb.all.aud-vasseur.141463.flac1644

Almost six years to the day after Jerry’s “Triumphant Return” from death’s door with the Garcia Band at the Stone, on October 31, 1992 he made a second comeback from a major health scare, playing with the JGB in the less homey Oakland Coliseum Arena less than three months after collapsing at home that summer.

I don’t have time today to put it together, but in the book I will follow the redemption (1991 through 8/1/92) – fall (8/3/92) – redemption (10/31/92) narrative that the media built up for Jerry over a scant year or so. Of course, a longer, slower, and final fall would follow all of that. But these are things for me to try to tackle another time. For now, just some listening notes.

Bottom line: yes, Jerry sounds glad to be back. There are some fine moments, and almost no bad ones. It was probably fun to attend, and 14,000 fans did so – twenty times more than the teary-eyed who packed the Stone six years prior. 10/31/92 circulated relatively early from decent soundboard tape, adding to its popularity. The “Tangled Up In Blue” was selected for official release on Garcia Plays Dylan, which is a little surprising, but no big deal. “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox” is the real surprise, totally shredding, and well warranting its officialization on Shining Star. “Werewolves Of London” was always fun, and Halloween is always a good timeThis is a good Garcia Band show. Oh yeah, and the handbill is surprisingly lame – I guess BGP was still figuring things out after Wolfgang’s demise almost a year to the day prior to this gig.

Jerry Garcia Band
Oakland Coliseum Arena
695 Hegenberger Road
Oakland, CA 94621
October 31, 1992 (Saturday)
Vasseur shnid-141463

–set I (7 tracks, 54:49)–
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:28] [1:20]
s1t02. Stop That Train [7:12] [0:40]
s1t03. The Maker [6:34] (1) [0:53]
s1t04. You Never Can Tell [6:54] [0:31]
s1t05. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:10] [0:05] %
s1t06. Lay Down Sally [7:08] [0:05] %
s1t07. Deal [7:35] (2) [0:15]

–set II + encore (9 tracks, 8 tunes, 79:31)–
–set II (7 tracks, 71:35)–
s2t08. dead air :05, //Shining Star [#11:45] [0:29]
s2t09. And It Stoned Me [7:14] [0:23]
s2t10. Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox [9:45] [0:38]
s2t11. What A Wonderful World [8:03] [0:44]
s2t12. Tore Up Over You [7:38] [0:48]
s2t13. Waiting For A Miracle [5:46] [0:26]
s2t14. My Sisters And Brothers [6:03] ->
s2t15. Tangled Up In Blue [11:40] [0:08] %
–encore (2 tracks, 1 tune, 7:55)–
s2t16. ambience [0:54]
s2t17. Werewolves Of London [6:53] (3) [0:09]

! ACT1: THE Jerry Garcia Band (JGB #21b)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals – keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch – backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones – backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the “real” time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19921031-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4351 (Schoeps MK4 shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/13230 (sbd shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/76460 (s2 Schoeps CMC54); http://etreedb.org/shn/83474 (Litzenberger MAD); http://etreedb.org/shn/97988 (s2 unknown taper Schoeps CMC34); http://etreedb.org/shn/102196 (same source as shnid-97988, complete); http://etreedb.org/shn/107738 (mtx of shnid-13230 and shnid-102196); http://etreedb.org/shn/107741 (DTS of shnid-13230 and shnid-102196); http://etreedb.org/shn/132279 (Dupree aud); http://db.etree.org/shn/141463 (this fileset).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/11/oakland-coliseum-arena-and-oakland.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/NLizLAqo1652

! official: Jerry Garcia – Garcia Plays Dylan (Rhino, R2 73263, 2005) (d2t04-TUIB); Jerry Garcia – Shining Star (Grateful Dead Records 4079, 2001) (d2t05-Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox).

! review: Laskey 1992. She notes the prelude: “Before his illness, Jerry seemed tired and unenthusiastic about playing … it really seemed that his spirit was escaping him.” She found this down “spunky” and enjoyed the show.

! expost: Dunham 1992

! R: field recordist: Chuck Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann KM54 > DAT

! R: Transfer: DAT Master > CDR (Kyle Porter)

! R: Extract: CDR clone > EAC > WAV > FLAC16 (Bill Shaw aka Shark)

! R: Source Notes: Sometime in the early 2000’s, Chuck loaned Kyle all of his 92-95 JGB masters to transfer to CDR. Kyle “mastered” the DATs to CDR, fading in/out as needed, adjusting levels (as needed) and tracking. Kyle then gave Chuck his masters back, with nice CDR copies of all of it. Chuck offered to clone the entire set for me, so I gave him a spool of 100 blank MITSUI CDRs and the next time I saw him, he gave them back to me, filled with his JGB recordings. Many of the Chuck V. JGB recordings do circulate already, but probably not all
of them, and those that do may not be the Kyle Porter transfers. So, Here they are! –Shark

! R: recording is strangely hissy, e.g., after STT. It sounds to me like there’s a cassette gen here, but what do I know?

! P: s1t02 STT Garcia sounds nicely mournful and sincere in delivering his lines – “though I try | to do my very best | I can’t seem to find | no happiness”.

! s1t03 @ 7:05 (1) JG: “So … how y’all doing?”

! s1t07 (2) JG: “We’re gonna take a little break, and we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

! s2t08 SS cuts in

! P: s2t10 ANBITB Garcia shreds some 6:20ff. Interesting and powerful. Straining and pulling 6:50. I don’t remember this song cooking like this. I see why it was officially released!

! s2t11 WAWW is the Louis Armstrong

! P: s2t14 MSAB he repeats the “this world is not our own” verse.

! P: s2t15 TUIB: I guess I can see why they chose this for the release – it’s clean, and the last big guitar piece from 9:30ff presents some very thoughtful melodic ideas. It doesn’t burn like some versions could, but it’s clean and, for a couple of minutes, interesting.

! song: “Werewolves Of London” (s2t17). Jerry seemed to enjoy singing this Warren Zevon classic. The Dead did nine super-enthusiastic versions in 1978, including one allagedly mescaline-drenched version on May 11 and a growly, coked-to-the-gills classic at Red Rocks on July 8, both of which have been officially released. It came back with the Dead Halloween ’85 in Columbia, South Carolina as a show opener out of space, the first of eight consecutive All Hallows Eve’s appearances through 1993. I saw the JGB version in ’89 and the Dead version in ’90 in, appropriately anough, London – good times.

! P: s2t17 WOL Garcia does some uncommonly high pitched “whoo”ing after 6. This version never goes bonkers, but it’s good.

! P: s2t17 (3) JG: “Thanks a lot. See ya later.”